Chapter 128 - Damn Reincarnation

Lightning Flame

“Sir Eugene, Sir Eugene...”

“Sir Eugene, aren't you going to get up?”

“I'm up.”

Eugene sprang up in bed as he answered. He had never been one to sleep for long. Camping was another matter, but in a familiar bed where his safety was reasonably assured, he always woke in the early hours before dawn.

In fact, he got up on his own without anyone waking him.

But a few days ago, someone had taken it upon herself to wake him, though he had never asked her to.

“Did you sleep well?”

Rubbing his gritty eyes, Eugene turned his head. Mer stood beside the bed. He glanced at the tall wall clock, then climbed out of bed.

“I told you there's no need to wake me. Besides, you wake me too early.”

“I can't help it. I can't sleep, so the early morning is boring and lonely.”

“You've lived that way for hundreds of years. Why complain now?”

“Because I've finally gained my freedom after living that way. I don't want to waste a single minute or second.”

Mer followed behind Eugene, smiling brightly. She no longer wore her enormous hat or shabby robe. Instead, she wore expensive clothes that suited a ten-year-old girl perfectly, though they were anything but ordinary.

... Eugene wasn't the one who had bought them for her.

“Still, life here is much better than in Akron. There are plenty of people to talk to me while you're asleep, too.”

Mer chattered as she followed him with quick little steps. Listening to her lively voice, Eugene stopped in front of the mirror. He roughly smoothed his unruly hair back, then waved her away.

“Go over there.”

“Okaaay.”

She didn't go far. Mer pressed herself against a nearby wall and rested her forehead against it. Meanwhile, Eugene unbuttoned his pajamas and opened the wardrobe.

The spacious wardrobe contained nothing but similar sets of training clothes. His other clothes were kept in a separate dressing room. Eugene pulled out whatever came to hand and put it on, then kicked his discarded pajamas into the basket near the door.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah.”

On the first day he had brought Mer out, Eugene had changed without giving it a thought, only for her to turn bright red and shriek. Ever since, this cumbersome routine had become part of changing his clothes.

It was no different here in the annex at the Lionheart main estate than it had been at the Red Tower.

“Did you sleep well, sir?”

Nina and the other attendants stood outside the door. While Eugene returned their greeting casually, Nina lowered her head to meet Mer's gaze. She winked, and Mer beamed.

“Lady Anisilla has invited you to join her for breakfast at the main house.”

“We had dinner, lunch, and breakfast together yesterday.”

“There's nothing strange about a family sitting at the same table, is there?”

“It's just far too obvious.”

Eugene shook his head with a dry laugh.

Today marked a week since he had returned to the main estate with Mer.

At first, he had had all sorts of worries. When he had brought nearly a hundred elves here, Anisilla had crushed her fan. She had ultimately allowed the elves to live in the forest, but adding to the main family's household without warning was a direct challenge to the authority of Anisilla, the mistress of Lionheart.

Not even a few days after challenging her authority like that, he had returned with one more person. Honestly, he had thought he might receive a scolding.

“Lady Anisilla is a good person.”

Mer beamed as she walked down the corridor with Eugene.

“She gave me these clothes, too.”

It wasn't just the outfit she was wearing now. Anisilla had turned an empty room in the annex into a dressing room for Mer and filled its wardrobes in a single day.

“She told me to come to the main house whenever I get bored while you're training. You know the library there, don't you? Of course, it doesn't have any magic books, and as a library it can't compare to Akron. But there are all sorts of fun books there that I couldn't read in Akron.”

... He hadn't received a scolding.

On the contrary, Anisilla had welcomed Eugene and Mer. She, too, had heard the news from Aroth here at the main estate: even if restrictions had been imposed on the duel, Eugene had defeated one of the tower masters Aroth took such pride in.

That victory did not belong to Eugene alone. The greater his achievements, the greater Lionheart's prestige. Honestly, that victory alone was more than enough for Anisilla to swallow her dissatisfaction over the elves.

And what did it matter if one very small, very adorable girl was added to the household?

Anisilla was not the principal wife.

Despite that disadvantage, she had wanted her children to become the family head. As a result, Cyan and Ciel had grown up under strict instruction from an early age. From the moment they learned to walk, they had begun learning to use mana and holding weapons.

Anisilla did not regret her approach to raising them. At times she had gone too far with corporal punishment, but she believed it had all been for her children's future. Nor had she done nothing but wield the switch. After every punishment, she had always given them the sweet gifts they wanted.

But sometimes, she had such thoughts. She wanted to set aside the strict family traditions for a while and simply spend time with her children. Rather than punish their mistakes with a switch, she wanted to soothe them with love alone, to embrace and comfort them.

Those feelings were especially strong whenever she looked at her daughter, Ciel. Her daughter had been cute and dainty from an early age. She wanted to dress her in adorable clothes to match. She wanted to give her prettily dressed daughter toys like dolls instead of swords. She wanted to go shopping, just the two of them, and take her to social gatherings to show her off...

'... I never got to do that with Ciel.'

Before she was a daughter or a girl, Ciel was a descendant of Lionheart. Besides, Ciel herself preferred swords to dolls, and swordsmanship training to shopping and social gatherings.

Anisilla took pride in that. She was prouder of her daughter, who worked up a sweat every day for future glory, than of those empty-headed noble mothers and daughters who giggled at social gatherings, badmouthing others and chewing over gossip.

'... Still, just once...'

She had never said it aloud. She had intended to oblige whenever Ciel wished, but her daughter was even more resolute than Anisilla had hoped. To think... to think that before they could even put on dresses together and attend a party hosted by the capital's nobility, Ciel would decide her future and leave for Black Lion Castle.

“Can't we go a little faster?”

The morning sun was rising. The early spring weather was cold enough to rival the depths of winter. Anisilla pulled her thick fur coat closed and looked out the window.

“We're going as fast as we can.”

Hezar, deputy commander of the White Lion Knights' Second Division, had been brought along as her escort early that morning. He knew very well how prickly the mistress of the household could be.

“... You seem quite taken with the young lady.”

He had served the main family for twenty years now. He had shown enough loyalty to be able to exchange a casual joke or two. Of course, that prickly mistress had never properly indulged his jokes. Ordinarily, Anisilla would have snapped at him to stop talking nonsense.

“... The child is adorable.”

Perhaps because all her children were away from the main estate, Anisilla had fallen completely in love with Mer, who looked like a ten-year-old. Mer seemed to embody all the desires Anisilla had let pass unfulfilled.

Give her sweet treats, and she would thank you politely before nibbling them with a lovely expression. Give her cake, and she would smile so adorably that the sight made your heart ache. Unlike Ciel, who loathed floaty skirts, Mer was delighted with whatever clothes she was given.

“... There's no real need for her to stay in the annex, is there?”

“Sir Eugene brought her here, didn't he? And Lady Mer wishes to live in the annex...”

“I've been thinking lately that the annex is too far from the main house. The building is getting old and shabby, too. Isn't it about time we renovated it?”

During the work, the annex's residents would have no choice but to stay in the main house.

“No. Rather than merely renovating it, I think we should tear it down and rebuild it. Right beside the main house.”

Then she wouldn't have to take a carriage to the annex early in the morning. Nor would she need to summon its residents to the main house's table for every meal.

“We've arrived.”

The carriage stopped. Anisilla waited without rushing. The door was to be opened from outside. Hastily opening it herself from within would run counter to the dignity she aspired to.

It took only a few seconds. Never once had she been irritated by how slowly those seconds passed.

'Did I not get enough sleep? Why does it feel so slow today?'

The door soon opened. Sensing Anisilla's irritation, Hezar quickly climbed out and helped her alight.

The air was cold.

“... Oh my...”

Anisilla trembled as she clutched her coat.

'She's too adorable...!'

Mer stood at one side of the annex's training ground, wearing a plush coat. Directly in front of her sat Eugene, heedless of the cold, with even his shirt off.

“... What is he doing?”

“He is meditating.”

“I can see that. Why is he sitting outside meditating in this cold weather, with his clothes off, no less?”

Anisilla's own family was a martial house with a considerable history. She had therefore learned various martial arts from childhood, but she couldn't quite understand why he insisted on doing that in such cold weather.

“If he must do it, he should do it alone. Bringing that little child outside...!”

Anisilla clenched her fists, trembling with anger.

“Lady Anisilla!”

As they drew closer, Mer waved with a radiant smile. That sight! Anisilla clutched her chest without realizing it. She remembered when Ciel and Cyan had first said “Mama,” so long ago.

“What brings you here so early?”

“... Ahem.”

Anisilla immediately brought her expression under control. Mer's face was pale as she looked up at her. ... Anisilla knew it wasn't because of the cold. That dainty, adorable girl was actually a familiar, not a human, who had existed for hundreds of years. No matter how cold it was, she couldn't feel it.

If anything, those facts stirred Anisilla's maternal instincts. What did it matter that she couldn't feel the cold? All that mattered was that the wind Anisilla felt right now was chilly. Clearing her throat, she took the scarf of the finest fabric from around her own neck and wrapped it around Mer's.

“... I hear an important guest of Eugene's is coming today, so I've come to discuss how we should receive them.”

“She's not an important guest.”

Eugene opened his eyes.

“You don't need to concern yourself with it, Lady Anisilla. She's my personal guest, anyway...”

“Your guest is Lionheart's guest.”

Anisilla gave Eugene a sharp look. Even as she did, both her hands were busy wrapping the scarf snugly around Mer's cheeks and ears.

“Besides, what do you mean, she's not an important guest? I can't agree with that. She's Aroth's White Tower Master, isn't she?”

Melkith El-Hayah.

A letter had arrived from Aroth the previous night. It said her “preparations” were complete and she would visit the Lionheart main estate tomorrow.

“... Well, she is, but... it's a private visit, so if you could just open the warp gate...”

“I can't do that. Receiving our guests is my duty as the mistress of Lionheart.”

Anisilla had no intention of backing down on that point.

A connection to someone as distinguished as a tower master was something money couldn't buy.

Red Tower Master Lovellian was an acquaintance of Gilead's and had visited every year since the Bloodline Succession Ceremony. Now there was an opportunity to forge a connection with the White Tower Master as well. Even if that connection came through Eugene, an adopted son, depending on how she cultivated it, it could become a connection to Lionheart.

'... White Tower Master Melkith El-Hayah... The only woman among the five tower masters.'

How old was she again? Anisilla considered it for a moment. If she remembered correctly, Melkith was already over sixty.

'... But I've heard she's beautiful.'

Red Tower Master Lovellian was old enough to be a stooped grandfather, yet he maintained the appearance of a young man in his twenties.

'I'm confident in my own beauty regimen, but it can't compare to magic. Another ten years should be easy enough, but after that, I'll need to add some magic...'

“Lady Anisilla?”

Mer's voice brought Anisilla back to her senses. Startled, she looked down. Bundled snugly in the scarf, Mer gazed at her with large, shining eyes.

“... Ahem.”

She had almost hugged her. Admiring her own self-restraint, Anisilla straightened up.

“... It seems your morning training is about finished. Let's go to the main house together and have breakfast.”

“My father is probably still in bed.”

“... There's no need to wake him. Sir Gerhard would prefer to sleep until noon rather than have breakfast at this hour.”

“Well, that's true.”

Anisilla's breakfast was always modest.

A balanced, mostly vegetarian meal and coffee without sugar. That was how it would have been if she were alone, but with Mer and Eugene joining her, the table inevitably became so lavish that it was hard to believe it was breakfast.

Meat, meat, meat, meat.

The table was truly a feast of meat. Pork, beef, chicken, and more. Various cuts from various animals, prepared in various ways, filled the table.

Eugene always ate meat with every meal.

So did Mer. Besides sweet, fluffy desserts, she simply liked delicious food. The smell alone was enough to make Anisilla's stomach feel heavy, and she didn't touch the meat at all.

But she watched Mer eat with a contented smile.

'I need to hire more chefs.'

The main house already had more than enough chefs. Every one of them ranked among Kiel's finest professionals.

'Kiel alone won't do. Didn't that child say she'd never eaten food for hundreds of years? I'll feed her enough different dishes to make up for every moment of that time.'

That was Anisilla's resolve.

* * *

Melkith arrived a little after noon.

“Hello!”

Stepping out of the warp gate, Melkith waved and offered a cheerful greeting. She wore a fur coat that reached her ankles and was so voluminous it made her look at least twice her size. That appearance and flippant greeting were nothing like the solemn tower master Anisilla had imagined.

“Welcome to Lionheart.”

But Anisilla did not let her bewilderment rob her of her dignity. Melkith lifted her leopard-print sunglasses and looked at her.

“Who are you?”

“... I am Anisilla Lionheart, mistress of the main household.”

“Aha! You didn't need to come out to greet me like this. I've heard about you from the Red Tower Master.”

Melkith approached Anisilla with a bright smile.

“It would feel a little wrong to visit the illustrious Lionheart main family empty-handed, wouldn't it? So I brought a gift that I thought would suit you.”

“A gift... That really wasn't necessary...”

“Oh, don't say that. Once you find out what it is, you'll be thanking me.”

Melkith leaned slightly closer and whispered into Anisilla's ear. Anisilla's expression changed a little. She cleared her throat and nodded.

“What gift did you bring?”

Eugene asked as he watched Anisilla leave with the knights.

“A rejuvenation potion.”

“What?”

“The White Tower handles alchemy as well as spirit arts. I don't know much about alchemy myself, but I have plenty of Aroth's finest alchemists working under me.”

Melkith folded her arms smugly.

“Actually, it's more specialized in skin care than rejuvenation... But it's still incredibly expensive, you know? It's a potion supplied exclusively to Aroth's royal family.”

Their interests had aligned. Just as Anisilla wanted a connection to the White Tower Master, Melkith wanted a connection to Lionheart.

“What I brought for you today was made by relentlessly hounding those alchemists, too.”

“What on earth is it?”

Eugene tilted his head as he asked, but Melkith merely grinned without answering right away.

“Don't be so impatient. You'll see it soon.”

Truthfully, she wanted to take it out and show him right this instant. Melkith raised her head and looked around at Lionheart's forest.

“... For now, let me show you to the annex.”

“The annex?”

Melkith shook her head.

“You're asking me, a spirit mage, to leave this forest and go to some boring annex?”

Ridiculous. Muttering that, Melkith shivered with a thrill.

A forest so green it was impossible to believe this was the cold season. Mana overflowing everywhere. As a great spirit mage, Melkith could sense just how extraordinary this forest was.

“... I've never seen a forest with so many spirits.”

Muttering, Melkith crouched down. She had contracted not only with the Lightning Spirit King, but with the Earth Spirit King as well.

That was why she could feel just how many spirits were breathing within this land.

“... Can't I live here?”

“No.”

Eugene answered without a moment's consideration.